Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

In my role as a yoga instructor, I've been able to help numerous runners who are seeking to cross-train, improve flexibility and alleviate pain they experience during and after running.

Moving up the leg, this second installment of the Fast & Flexible series focuses on the quads, hamstrings and IT band. These are the muscles of the legs that provide strength and stability. The power plants of the leg, if you will.

It always amazes me that as soon as the snow starts to melt, runners hit the road. Despite the fact it is 32 degrees with a brisk head wind, I see runners in shirts, no jacket and shorts, dodging remnant snow piles, pot holes and all forms of traffic to get their runs in. You runners are a very motivated bunch and apparently impervious to cold.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of including yoga in your regular cross training routine. While practicing yoga builds strength and flexibility in areas like the core, hamstrings, quads, and hip flexors, yoga poses also help to improve mental endurance.

The other day I was having lunch with my parents when the subject of yoga and marathon running came up. My dad asked me if a marathon running yogi was in danger of becoming so detached and tuned into the meditative transcendental powers of breath, that he or she would disconnect from the body to the point of pushing to total collapse. My mother, a 79 year old yoga practitioner of 5 years, made the point that in a yoga asana class we are, in fact, deeply aware of what is happening in our body. But my dad’s question got me thinking about the various different ways yoga can work for runners, and how we can use these different approaches harmoniously in any sport.